Written Answers

Monday 17 April 2000

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what share farmers in the Clydesdale constituency will receive from the agricultural funding package announced last week.

Ross Finnie: It is not possible at this stage to know what share of the recently announced agricultural aid package will go to Clydesdale farmers as this will depend upon uptake in the various schemes. Information is, in any case, not readily available on a parliamentary constituency basis.

  It is possible, however, to use historical patterns of uptake under the various IACS and LFA schemes involved and the proportion of total Scottish dairy cows found in South Lanarkshire to produce an estimate of the likely payments in that area. On that basis, we estimate that the agrimoney and LFA elements of the recent package will amount to about £1.3 million in South Lanarkshire.

Disabled People

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the proportion of registered disabled people is as (a) a percentage of the population and (b) a percentage of the workforce, in each local authority area, for the last year in which figures are available, and what steps it is taking to increase employment of registered disabled people by local authorities.

Mr Frank McAveety: This information is not held centrally. However, the Labour Force Survey, which includes about 6,000 households each quarter in Scotland, gives reliable estimates although not broken down by local authority area. The autumn 1999 survey estimated that in Scotland 17% of the working age population have a disability, as do 8% of the workforce.

  It is for individual local authorities to determine their own employment policies within the statutory requirements and, under section 64 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to appoint such officers as they think necessary for the proper discharge of their functions. However, the Scottish Executive will be working closely with the Disability Rights Commission following its inception on 19 April 2000 including initiatives which the Commission might wish to pursue concerning employment for people with disabilities.

Film Industry

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to assist the film industry.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive funds Scottish Screen to carry out a range of activities, including training in film crafts, funding for script development, producer support and locations marketing.

Housing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many council houses have been built in each of the last five years for which figures are available, broken down by local authority area.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The table presents the number of new council houses which have been completed in each local authority area, in the years 1994-98, as reported by local authorities to the Scottish Executive.

  


Local Authority New Dwellings Completed: 1994 to 1998




Authority 


1994


1995


1996


19971


19981




Scotland


548


487


278


108


86




Aberdeen City 


20


-


87


50


-




Aberdeenshire 


41


63


59


-


11




Angus 


-


37


-


..


..




Argyll & Bute 


-


-


-


-


-




Clackmannanshire 


-


-


-


-


-




Dumfries & Galloway 


117


21


-


-


-




Dundee City 


21


-


-


-


-




East Ayrshire 


7


28


-


1


-




East Dunbartonshire 


-


41


10


-


-




East Lothian 


-


-


-


-


-




East Renfrewshire 


18


74


-


-


-




Edinburgh, City of 


-


-


-


-


-




Eilean Siar 


2


2


-


-


-




Falkirk 


-


-


-


-


-




Fife 


-


-


27


-


-




Glasgow City 


-


-


-


-


-




Highland 


170


88


18


..


..




Inverclyde 


-


8


-


-


19




Midlothian 


26


-


22


26


36




Moray 


39


15


-


-


-




North Ayrshire 


-


8


15


3


-




North Lanarkshire 


4


67


-


-


..




Orkney 


-


-


-


-


-




Perth & Kinross 


-


-


-


-


-




Renfrewshire 


-


-


-


-


-




Scottish Borders, The 


-


16


-


-


-




Shetland 


12


-


-


-


-




South Ayrshire 


20


-


20


-


-




South Lanarkshire 


30


2


-


-


-




Stirling 


-


4


-


-


-




West Dunbartonshire 


-


-


-


-


-




West Lothian 


21


13


20


28


20




  .. Return outstanding

  - Nil return

  Notes:

  1. The Scotland total for these years is provisional, pending the submission of returns from some local authorities.

Legislation

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis or programme it legislates on matters which were not set out in the election manifestos of its component parties or A Programme for Government .

Mr Tom McCabe: While the legislative programme is informed by the Partnership for Scotland and the Programme for Government , the Executive brings forward proposals in the light of its ongoing assessment and review of its legislative priorities.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it was possible for Chris Mullin MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, in a letter of 11 January 2000 to the secretary of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport Consultative Committee, to refer to Sarah Boyack’s answer to question S1W-2922, which has not been answered in the Parliament and how many days elapse on average between answers to Parliamentary Questions being finalised and being given by e-mail to the relevant MSP and the Parliament.

Sarah Boyack: Question S1W-2922 tabled by Mr Ian Welsh referred to the Scottish Airports and Air Services Study which is currently being undertaken jointly by the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and the Scottish Executive. A draft response to the question was passed by the Scottish Executive to DETR for comment, where it was incorrectly assumed, at the time of Mr Mullin’s letter, that the question had been formally answered. Mr Welsh had, however, resigned his seat in the Scottish Parliament by the time Mr Mullin’s reply was issued and the question was not subsequently answered.

Sport

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to assess the impact of sport on reducing social exclusion.

Rhona Brankin: I refer Mr Gibson to the answer I gave to question S1W-5761.